1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for making holes (or punching) in a pipe and, in particular, to a method suitable for making narrow and elongate slits in a pipe, made of an aluminum alloy, or the like, of low rigidity and having an elliptical section, used for producing a header tank of a heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the decrease in the sizes of air-conditioning systems and automotive heat exchangers, pairs of header tanks arranged on the vertical sides or lateral sides of the heat exchangers are made from a comparatively compact pipe having an elliptical section in place of a pipe having a circular section. In order to exchange heat between the header tanks and the atmospheric air by supplying a fluid like water or a refrigerant, the flat end portions of a multiplicity of core tubes are mounted on the header tanks. The portions of the header tanks where the core tubes are mounted are formed with slits by press-work. The flat ends of the tubes are inserted into these holes, and the gaps between the tubes and the holes are closed by brazing. In this case, the pipe having an elliptical section (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an elliptical pipe) making up each header tank cannot be easily formed with slits by pressing, in view of the fact that the pipe is made of such a soft and easily deformable material as an aluminum alloy and has a low rigidity due to the elliptical and flat section leading to a small section modulus, thereby posing the problem that the pipe is liable to be crushed under the load exerted when making holes.
In a method for coping with this problem, a pipe having an elliptical section making up a header tank is fabricated as a structure segmented into two longitudinal portions, and each of the two pipe portions is formed with slits by pressing, after which the two pipe portions are coupled with each other to complete a header tank. This method makes it easy to make slits. Nevertheless, the two or more portions making up each header tank are required to be fabricated separately from each other, and a process is required to couple the pipe portions mainly along a long longitudinal line. Further, the joints of the two pipe portions are always accompanied by the possibility of fluid leakage, and therefore the reliability of this segmented structure is lower than that of the integrated structure.
The method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-327323 is known as a first conventional technique usable for fabricating a header tank of the heat exchanger having a multiplicity of slits. According to this technique, a long die and a long metal core for supporting the die are inserted into a pipe having a circular section to constitute a header tank, and a multiplicity of slits are made by pressing while preventing the pipe from being crushed. The work actually capable of being machined by this conventional method is limited to a pipe having a circular section and does not include a pipe having an elliptical section. The reason is that the internal space of the pipe having an elliptical section is so limited that a very thin die and a very thin metal core are required for insertion into such an internal space and it is difficult to secure the strength of the die and the metal core.
In view of this, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-72620 discloses a method, known as the second conventional technique, for making holes in a pipe by pressing without using a die or a metal core. In making circular holes in a pipe 8 having a circular section using this conventional technique, the first step, as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, is to form a groove 9 reducing the thickness of a part of the pipe 8 and then a circular hole is punched through, by a circular punch 10, within the range of the groove 8. According to the second conventional technique, the pipe 8 having a circular section has a comparatively high rigidity, and the area with a thickness reduced by the groove where a hole is made by the punch 10 is small. Therefore, the likelihood of completely making a hole is high before the pipe 8 is crushed and deformed. An attempt to make slits in a pipe material having an elliptical section by use of this conventional technique, however, would encounter the various problems described below and end in failure.
The first problem, which arises when attempting to make slits in a pipe having an elliptical section by use of the second conventional technique, is derived from the fact that the rigidity of the pipe having an elliptical section is lower than that of the pipe having a circular section. A simple application of the second conventional technique to the pipe having an elliptical section, therefore, would only deform the pipe and could not make slits as intended.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a groove 9 constituting a base for making slits in a pipe 1 having an elliptical section is formed along the long diameter on the substantially flat surface portion of the pipe having an elliptical section comparatively large in radius of curvature. At the same time, the horizontally long area of the groove 9 is struck vertically by a punch 12 having a uniformly long cutting edge normally used for punching a slit. In view of the fact that this portion of the elliptical pipe 1 has such a section modulus that the rigidity is small especially against the vertical load, the deformation xcex94d due to the load is increased and the pipe 1 is liable to be easily crushed with the result that slits cannot be made as intended.
To cope with this situation, a punch with a longitudinally slanted cutting edge is effectively used. A punch 13 having a V-shaped cutting edge as shown in FIG. 4 is used, for example, and the cutting position is slowly moved along the direction of the cutting edge. In this way, the problem which otherwise might be caused by the whole length of the cutting edge acting on the surface of the pipe 1 is avoided thereby to reduce the amount of the load exerted vertically on the surface of 10 the material within a unit time. The cutting edge of the punch 13 shown in FIG. 4, which has an acute central peak and two ends formed at an obtuse angle xcex8, is provided with right and left cutting edge portions in the shape of V. By using this punch 13, therefore, the deformation xcex94d under the load is reduced as compared with the case of FIG. 3, and the pipe 1 can be prevented from being crushed. In this way, an intended slit 7 can be formed in the surface of the elliptical pipe 1 which is grooved appropriately.
The use of the punch 13 having a V-shaped cutting edge, however, as shown in FIG. 4, poses another problem that burrs 14 are formed at the ends of the slit 7 as shown and the periphery of the hole is slightly deformed, resulting in a deteriorated product quality.
This problem can be obviated by the using a special punch 5 which, as shown in FIG. 5, has a cutting edge with a recessed central portion and peaked ends formed at an acute angle xcex8 slanted in the shape of inverted V inward from the left and right ends toward the central portion thereof. The use of this punch 5 reduces the load exerted vertically on the surface of the work and thus reduces the deformation xcex94d. At the same time, there is a lower possibility of the burrs 14 being formed at the positions shown in FIG. 4 or of the periphery of the hole being partially deformed, thereby making it possible to successfully form a slit 7 in the elliptical pipe 1.
Nevertheless, a second problem posed by the second conventional technique used for making the slit 7 in the pipe 1 having an elliptical section is that the slit 7 is so narrow and elongated that a similarly narrow and elongate cutting chip generated as the slit 7 is made is not easily separated from the pipe 1 and may often partly remain attached on the periphery of the slit 7. In the case where an inverted-V recessed punch 5 as shown in FIG. 5 is used, therefore, though not formed with the burrs 14 shown in FIG. 4, the hard-to-separate cutting chip 15 is liable to remain on a part of the periphery of the slit 7, as shown in FIG. 5.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2B, even in the second conventional technique which uses the circular punch 10 for the pipe 8 having a circular section, the cutting chip 11 generated hen punching a circular hole by the circular punch 10 is not separated and is liable to remain attached to a part of the periphery of the hole for lack of a die and a metal core. This trend is enhanced in the case where the second conventional technique is used for making the slit 7 in the pipe 1 having an elliptical section, in which case the slit 7 is elongated but has a width As small as, say, not more than 1.6 mm. Even the inverted-V recessed punch 5 cannot hold the cutting chip 15 between the left and right cutting edge portions thereof when making the slit 7. As a result, the cutting chip 15 often remains attached to a part of the periphery of the slit 7 without dropping in a curled form.
A third problem Encountered when the second conventional technique is used for making slits in a pipe having an elliptical section is that the absence of a die and a metal core for presswork makes it impossible to form a slanted surface connected with the entrance of the slit 7 at the same time as the press-work. In the case where the conventional technique is used to make a multiplicity of slits 7 in the header tank for producing a heat exchanger, for example, a slanted surface is desirably formed as a guide surface at the entrance of each slit 7 at the same time as the slit 7 is formed, to facilitate the assemblage of core tubes on the header tank in a subsequent step. This is impossible, however, unless a special subsequent step is added in the second conventional technique. The addition of such a second subsequent step would of course increase the processing time and cost.
As described above, in order to solve the problem posed when the method shown in FIG. 3 is employed as an application of the second conventional technique, the method shown in FIG. 4 or 5 may be used for the elliptical pipe 1. To form a slanted surface providing a guide surface at the entrance of each slit 7 for assembling the core tubes, the periphery of the hole 7 is required to be machined additionally in another pressing step or another cutting step after making the slit 7. If the slanted surface is formed at the same time as the slit 7 by press-work, the load for forming the slanted surface is added to the load exerted for making the slit 7 in the elliptical pipe 1. Unless a die and a metal core are used, therefore, the elliptical pipe 1 would be crushed. Thus, neither the slanted surface nor the slit 7 can be formed.
As evident from the foregoing description, an unavoidable problem is posed not only by the first and second conventional techniques themselves but also by the aforementioned conceivable cases of application or improvement thereof. Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a novel method and a novel apparatus for making holes in a pipe which are capable of obviating the aforementioned problems of the conventional techniques and an application and improvement thereof.
Specifically, the present invention is intended to provide a novel method and a novel apparatus for making holes in a pipe, having an elliptical section and being low in rigidity, in which a multiplicity of slits can be efficiently and easily formed by press-work without using any die or metal core in the pipe. The present invention is also intended to separate the cutting chip positively from the pipe, and thus to prevent the cutting chip from remaining attached to the periphery of the hole to facilitate removal. The present invention is further intended to facilitate the insertion of the end of the core tubes into the slits in a subsequent step by forming a slanted surface at the entrance of the slit at the same time that the slit is formed by the press-work thereby to reduce both the number of steps and the production cost.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided, as a means for solving the problems mentioned above, a method of making holes in a pipe comprising the steps described below.
The method of making holes in a pipe according to the invention comprises at least a grooving step and a hole-making step. In the grooving step, a grooving punch having a predetermined sectional shape is operated in a direction coinciding with the longitudinal direction of the slit to be made in a pipe having an elliptical section, and by scraping off a part of the solid portion of the pipe to such a degree as not to cut through the pipe, a groove is formed in a direction coinciding with the longitudinal direction of the slit. In the hole-making step following the grooving step, a hole-making punch with a cutting edge slanted in longitudinal direction, or preferably, a hole-making punch, having the ends formed at an acute angle and a central portion recessed from the ends thereof, is operated in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the groove thereby to form a slit in a pipe having an elliptical section in the substantial area of the groove formed in the grooving step.
The sectional shape of the pipe constituting the work material is elliptical and, therefore, the rigidity of the pipe is low. Even in the case where the pipe would otherwise be crushed by an attempt to form a slit with a slit-making punch, therefore, the load is not exerted over the whole range of the groove at a time, in view of the fact that the area where an intended slit is to be made is grooved in the grooving step and reduced in thickness beforehand, that the slit is made by a hole-making punch with a longitudinally slanted cutting edge preferably having the ends formed at an acute angle and a recessed central portion and that the cutting position is moved longitudinally of the groove in such a manner as to make the slit from the ends progressively toward the central portion. As a result, a comparatively small load is exerted on the pipe having an elliptical section within a unit time, and therefore the pipe is prevented from being crushed under the load. In this way, a narrow, elongate slit can be made by press-work, without a die and a metal core, in the surface of an elliptical pipe having a large radius of curvature along the long diameter of the pipe section.
In the method of making holes in a pipe according to this invention, the slit can be correctly made if the length of the groove is at least 80% of the length of the slit. Even though the range of making a slit is enlarged to an area slightly larger than the groove length, the load exerted on the elliptical pipe is comparatively small and therefore the elliptical pipe is not crushed under the load, in view of the fact that the end portions of the groove are harder to crush than the central portion thereof and that the cutting position of the longitudinally slanted cutting edge moves slowly.
In the method of making holes in a pipe according to the invention, a ridge is formed longitudinally to the groove on the bottom surface of the groove in the first grooving step. In the hole-making step, therefore, the cutting chip generated by the hole-making punch is prevented from remaining attached on the periphery of the slit and is easily separated and discharged from the pipe material. Also, in the case where a chamfer-like slanted surface connected with the side surface of the groove is formed at the same time that the groove is formed by the grooving punch in the grooving step, the slanted surface remains at the entrance of the slit when the slit is made in the hole-making step. In the case where the forward end of another member such as a core tube is required to be inserted into a corresponding slit, the slanted surface guides the forward end of the particular member and facilitates the insertion. Thus, the member can be assembled both easily and rapidly.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided, as a means for solving the problems mentioned above, an apparatus having the configuration described below.
The apparatus for making holes in a pipe according to the invention comprises at least a grooving punch and a hole-making punch. The grooving punch is operated in the grooving step in a direction coinciding with the longitudinal direction of the slit to be made in a pipe having an elliptical section, and by scraping off a part of the solid portion of the pipe to such a degree as not to cut through the pipe, a groove is formed in a direction coinciding with the longitudinal direction of the slit. The hole-making punch has a cutting edge, which is slanted in longitudinal direction, or preferably, has the ends formed at an acute angle and recessed toward the central portion. In the hole-making step following the grooving step, the grooving punch is operated in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinally of the groove within the substantial groove area formed in the grooving step thereby to make a slit in a pipe having an elliptical section.
The sectional shape of the pipe constituting the work material is elliptical and therefore the rigidity of the pipe is low. Even in the case where the pipe would otherwise be crushed by an attempt to make a slit with a slit-making punch, however, the load is not exerted over the whole range of the groove at a time, in view of the fact that the area where an intended slit is to be made is grooved and reduced in thickness beforehand, that the cutting edge of the hole-making punch is slanted longitudinally and preferably has the ends formed at an acute angle and recessed toward the central portion thereof and that the cutting position is moved longitudinally of the groove in such a manner as to make a slit from the ends progressively toward the central portion. As a result, a comparatively small load is exerted on the pipe having an elliptical section within a unit time, and therefore the pipe is prevented from being crushed under the load. In this way, a narrow and elongate slit can be made successfully by the press-work, without a die and a metal core, in a surface of a pipe, having an elliptical section, which has a large radius of curvature along the long diameter of the pipe section.
With the apparatus for making holes in a pipe according to this invention, a preferable hole-making punch can be used which is recessed either in the shape of inverted V or inverted W. As a result, the slit begins to be made from the ends of the groove formed in the grooving step and therefore no burrs are left attached. Also, the cutting position of the cutting edge of the hole-making punch moves longitudinally to the slit at such a rate that the crushing of the elliptical pipe having a low rigidity, which otherwise might be caused by a large load exerted on the pipe, can be avoided. Further, in the case where a groove is formed between the cutting edge portions with at least a part of the central portion recessed along the thickness of the cutting edge, the cutting chip supported and curled by the groove is prevented from remaining attached to the peripheral edge of the slit.
With the apparatus for making holes in a pipe according to this invention, the slit can be correctly made if the length of the groove is at least 80% of the length of the slit. Even though the slit-making range is enlarged to an area slightly larger than the groove length, the load exerted on the elliptical pipe is comparatively small and therefore the elliptical pipe is not crushed under the load, in view of the fact that the end portions of the groove are harder to crush than the central portion thereof and that the cutting edge is slanted longitudinally and the cutting position moves longitudinally.
With the hole-making apparatus according to the invention, a recess like a groove can be formed along the lower edge portion of the grooving punch. As a result, a longitudinal ridge is formed on the groove bottom in the grooving step. The portion along the lines on the sides of the ridge is reduced in thickness along the length of the groove. In the hole-making step, therefore, the cutting edge of the hole-making punch is applied along the thinner portion on the side lines of the ridge, so that this particular portion is cut first. Thus, the cutting chip is separated more easily from the periphery of the slit.
On the other hand, provision of a slanted surface on at least one side of the grooving punch can automatically form, at the time of forming the groove, at least one chamfer-like slanted surface at the portion constituting the entrance of the slit connected to the groove side. This slanted surface acts as a guide surface for guiding the forward end of another member, which may be required to be inserted into the slit, and thus facilitates the insertion. As a result, the members can be assembled with rapidity. According to this invention, however, such a slanted surface need not be formed intentionally but can be automatically formed in the grooving step. Therefore, neither the number of steps nor the cost is increased.
The above and other objects, features and advantages will be made apparent by the detailed description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.